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Washington Evening Journal
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Washington, IA 52353
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Winfield family raising money for service dog
Did you know that even though a Service Dog is considered a medical device, they aren't actually covered by insurance and can cost roughly $20,000?
The Blauvelt family — Winfield First Presbyterian Church Pastor Jeremy, his wife Jessica, and their children — are tackling this reality as they raise funds to pay for a seizure alert service dog for their 8-year-old son, Zeke, through 4 Paws For Ability.
The service dog, once trained and received by the family, will be able to alert the Blauvelt parents when Zeke has a seizure so they can keep their child safe.
Zeke has MAE, also called Doose Syndrome Epilepsy, considered a catastrophic childhood epilepsy, causing regression and behavioral challenges.
According to Jessica, Zeke was two-years-old when he had his first seizure in July of 2018.
After taking him to the Emergency Room and feeling like they didn't get any answers as to what happened, they went home.
Two weeks later, Zeke seized again, this time with a Tonic Clonic (convulsive) seizure, kicking off the start of their journey to find help for their son. By the following November, he was having multiple different types of seizures several times each week.
In the Spring of 2019, Zeke was hospitalized for having over 27 seizures in a 24 hour period. Their once bright and active child seemed to be losing abilities over night.
The Blauvelts researched everything they could find to help their son, as the medications he was on didn't seem to control the seizures.
Instead, the multiple medications had some serious negative side effects on Zeke, leaving him barely able to eat.
They soon found information about the Medical Ketogenic diet helping children with epilepsy, and decided to give it a try.
Starting with a modified Atkins diet, the family worked their way toward the Keto diet for Zeke. By Fall, they had fully committed to the diet and had seen improvement.
At this point, three years later, Zeke has about six types of seizures, most commonly tonic clonic (convulsive) seizures.
These seizures most commonly happen at night while he is sleeping, and according to his mother, happen multiple times per week.
Getting a service dog from 4 Paws For Ability would enable Zeke to sleep in his own bed at night.
The service dog would also help keep him safe in the event that he wanders away, or needs assistance with emotional regulation.
Seizure alert, behavior disruption, tethering, and balance are all tasks which can only be provided by a specially trained service dog.
Currently, Blauvelts have raised roughly $14,000 of the $20,000 needed. They are hoping to finish raising funds as soon as possible in order to have 4 Paws For Ability breed and start training a dog for their son.
